Our Rite of Passage

~Posted by Roma

Bianca had her Rite of Passage when she was 13, a long time ago. Ben had his Rite of Passage when he was 14, a few years ago. Last Saturday, May 17^th, was a very exciting day: Rubia and I had our Rite of Passage Ceremony!

A Rite Of Passage Ceremony happens for us when Mom and Dad recognize that we are growing older and they want to celebrate that we are going through a doorway—a passage way—from childhood to adulthood. Age doesn’t matter so much—it’s more about maturity. So, before our birthday, we celebrated with 12 other ladies (including our Mom, Bianca, and our Abuela) at our church! It was small and simple; the way we liked it. J

We arrived at the church and found the most gorgeous decorations all over the upstairs youth room made by our sweet friend, Mrs. H! There was a table with all the food and blue, yellow, and violet plastic table wear, (we LOVE those colors) and there were two huge fancy chocolate cakes with rich white frosting! There were beautiful cookies, a table with punch, tables and chairs set up in front of the podium where the speaking was done, and a table full of gifts. We were showered and spoiled! J

My Mom made a speech in the beginning. Dad came up, read his letter to us, and showed Ruby and I the video he had made for us on the big screen. It was a wonderful gift from him. J After the video Mom spoke some more, and then Ruby and I stepped up to the podium and shared our testimonies. Then a few other ladies including my Grandma and Mom read their letters to us. We each received a binder filled with letters of affirmation from Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and even Haiti!

After the reading of the letters, Ruby and I stepped up in front of the ladies, and we had the Passing of Blessings. The ladies each read a blessing over us that was written on cards for us to keep. That was special! Then everyone gathered around us, and we were prayed over. We then enjoyed a fellowship meal together and the men and boys joined us.

We had a big layered Company Salad, (Ruby and I adore salad) deviled eggs, Chick-fil-A chicken, pistachio salad, crackers with hummus and mockamole (like guacamole), cake, punch, and cookies. Ruby and I have loved opening the gifts, reading the letters from all over, and enjoying the new books, journals, music, gift cards, jewelry, etc

It was so wonderful—we felt so, so special, and blessed! We had celebrated our birthday for days. A few days before all this, we were taken to a very special restaurant for dinner and given purity rings by our Dad, then we had this ceremony, then on our actual birthday, Abuela made her amazing Puerto-Rican cooking…I could go on and on! We had a wonderful ceremony, birthday, and wonderful time with family. Praise be to the Lord for His abundant blessings!